525,600 Minutes
by Tellhound
Summary: "525,600 minutes. That's how long he was able to keep his hopes up and not letting the sadness get to him. He stayed in Camelot for 525,600 minutes before he realized that he would never be able to move on as long as he stayed." It's been 525,600 minutes since the king of Camelot died in Merlin's arms and Merlin is finally ready to leave. Set a year after Arthur died. Not so angsty


Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or the characters. I do however own Theon.

**A/N: Not sure where this idea come from. It's a mixture of the idea I originally had and a second idea I got and apparently my muse decided that I should mix them. It's my first ever Merlin fanfic so it's probly a bit OOC. Also, I'll give you a (virtual) cookie if you can guess where I got the title from. Enjoy and don't fprget to review.**

**525,600 Minutes**

525,600 minutes. That's how long he was able to keep his hopes up and not letting the sadness get to him. He stayed in Camelot for 525,600 minutes before he realized that he would never be able to move on as long as he stayed. He would say goodbye to Gaius, the old physician that had taken him in all those years ago. The goodbye had been rather short. Just a few words, a hug and then he had taken his packed bag and left with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Then he said goodbye to the queen. Guinevere was not happy that he was leaving, but she understood that it was something he had to do. The past 525,600 minutes he'd been so distant, so... This just wasn't the place for him anymore. She had been waiting for this to happen ever since he returned with the news that... 525,600 minutes and she still couldn't think about it. Just like he had done with Gaius they justed exchanged a few words and a hug before he was was going to leave. However, just as he reached the door to leave her chambers he could hear her voice asking him if she would ever get to see him again. He stopped and looked at her with a sad smile. "I don't think." Through tears she smiled. "I will never forget you, Merlin." That was it. The last words he would ever hear her speak. It was the last time he would ever see her.

***MERLIN***

Slowly Merlin entered the last room he would ever see inside the the Castle. It was small, but contained the same things as all the others room did. A cuppoard, a desk with a chair... Except that the room was smaller than most of the others there was only one other thing that was different. Where a big, nice, comfy bed usually stood there was a crib instead. This was a room Merlin had spent many hours in the past 2 months. He placed his bag by the door and walked up to the crib and looked inside it. As soon as he saw the two and a half month old sleeping baby he smiled. "Hello there." He said quietly not to wake him up. "I know you will never remember this, but I just wanted to tell you that even though you've only been in the world for a little more than two months I love you with my whole heart and should there ever come a day when you need a sorcerer, just know I'll be there. Just try not to be a big of a prat of your father and try not to get into trouble all the time. I don't want to have to save the life of another Pendragon for several years of my life." _Eventually I will fail._ He thought and the memory of a dying Arthur came to his mind. He blinked away the tears that came with it and continued. "Please, I beg you to stay out of trouble. I don't want you to meet the same fate as your father did. I'm not over his death yet and I don't want to have to lose you too. I want to know that you are safe and happy. Although I have a feeling that you will be almost a copy of your father, so in a few short years you'll be out on adventures, getting in trouble... Having the time of your life." He bent down and kissed the little boy on his forhead and said: "Goodbye, Theon. Don't forget your uncle Merlin." He took one last look at the little boy that already looked way too much like his father before he took the bag by the door and left.

***MERLIN***

Staring back at the castle from the forest he finally let the tears start falling. This was the end of everything. The people he had met when he first came to Camelot, the people that meant more than anything to him where still in Camelot and he would never get to see them again. It was not that he didn't want to come back in a few years or so, but it was just that he had nothing to do there. Camelot wasn't his home anymore, hadn't been since Arthur died. He wiped away his tears and turned around with a deep sigh before he started to follow the road that had taken him there so many years earlier. Now it would take him away from there instead. Maybe one day he would return, but for now he would just have to follow the road and see where it would take him. It had taken him 525,600 minutes of mostly sadness and the feeling of not beloning in Camelot anymore. He just hoped it would take less than that to find a new home.

**The End**

**A/N: So that was it. My first ever Merlin fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it wasn't to OOC or anything. Not really sure what I feel about the ending, but should I ever feel the need to change it I will go back and do so. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought.**


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